MBB: Centennial Conference

[Gabriel]

Centfan,

Thanks for the update.  I don't know if you saw my earlier posting with the link regarding Jon Ward's internship in Paris.  Ian Goldberg is well deserving of recognition as well.  I am glad he graduated as the Bears had no one who could guard him.  Academic accomplishments such as Jon and Ian's are terrific.  Makes one proud to be associated with DIII sports.

[centfan]

gabriel,
i did see your post and also read the article on ward. thanks.i wanted to mention goldberg and ward as i enjoyed watching them both play. it takes alot to play ball in college and deal with the academics at a fine institution...to excel in both is truly remarkable!!! it is great to see these young men acknowledged.
enjoy your summer.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Hope you don't mind a break in the action, as it were, but I want to share a story the D3 community should know about. You actually may have seen the story on the front page of D3hoops.com, but just in case:

A Goucher basketball player has been paralyzed in a freak accident. He was wrestling around with a friend one morning in his dorm building when he landed on his neck. The entire story is here.

He was released from the hospital to the Kennedy Krieger Institute for rehab shortly after that article was posted last week. However, over the weekend he was sent back to the hospital when he apparently had trouble breathing. Now he awaits a return to the rehab facility, probably any day if he hasn't been released already.

Please keep Damone Brooks, his family, the Goucher basketball team(s), and Goucher community in your thoughts, hearts, and prayers. The family certainly needs help with medical bills as well, so if you feel inclined, please consider them as well.

To follow his progress online, click here.
And to consider a donation, click here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

[onetinsoldier]

wow, awful news.  thanks for sharing

[Gabriel]

The Ursinus 2012-13 hoops schedule is posted.  The Bears open the season playing in the Lebanon Valley College tourney 16 and 17 November against Middlebury.  The Lebanon Valley tournament is a bit of a change for the Bears---in recent years they have opened in New England or New York tournaments---Rochester, Wesleyan, Williams, Trinity and Hamilton. Middlebury will be a tough test for the Bears, make no mistake about that.  The other team in the tournament besides  Lebanon Valley is the College of Staten Island---another NCAA tournament team from last year.  This seems to be a good tournament that will give us an idea of how good the Bears will be.  Other non conference games will be against Moravian, Eastern, Immaculata and two games in the Land of Magic Classic in Florida after Christmas.

Ursinus announced their class of 2016 recruits as:

Malik Draper, 6'3" guard from Scranton High School, PIAA 4A all state player intends to major in Biology
Trevor Norton, 6'4" guard from Bishop Eustace to major in Sports Science
Mark Wonderling. 6'3" guard from Souderton High School will major in Business/Economics

All three are wing players who can shoot and score---a major weakness last year.  Great kids, they all look good on You Tube but how much will they help as freshmen?  We'll have to wait and see.

[Swat Fan #1]

Thanks Gabriel! They sound just what that team needs!

[saratoga]

Gabriel:
The Bears have an exceptional talent in Malik Draper.
Absolutely one of the best players in the Scranton area.
I have seen him play a number of times & he can lead a fast break, shoot the "3" & dunk over kids 6'6".
He will be a fan favorite for the next 4 years.
I know many of us that follow Scranton had high hopes for him staying home & playing alongside Ross Danzig.
Great kid as well.
Our loss!

[Gabriel]

Saratoga,

Good to hear your comments about Malik Draper.  I know the coaches are high on him and expect him to be in the rotation right away.  It wouldn't surprise me if he starts as a freshman. I understand his test scores were superb and he seems to be choosing a rigorous science curriculum in preparation for an advanced degree. He did have a lot of Ivy and Patriot League interest.

Ursinus' guard play was poor last year on both ends of the court---no sense sugar coating it.  That should improve this year with more athletic reinforcements, more experience and the addition of Dennis Stanton to the coaching staff.  He coached another of the Ursinus recruits, Mark Wonderling, last year at Souderton High.  I met Mark and he is a great kid as well and solid enough to be in the rotation as a freshman.  He will certainly contribute a lot over the next four years.  I don't know much about Trevor Norton but I understand he has a terrific upside. 

Swat Dad---thanks for your encouraging words and I think Swat will do much better this year with a solid returning nucleus and a new coach.  Maybe Ursinus and Swat will surprise everyone.

[centfan]

should be another unpredictable season next year in the CC....i imagine f&m will continue to be strong, but after that hard to say
hope everyone is having a good summer

[onetinsoldier]

anyone know if theyre doing another d3hoops vegas classic and if any cent teams are playing?

[Pat Coleman]

We are, but there are no Centennial teams this season.

[Reserved Seat]

Round           2012-13 date, location                 Usual date, location
Selection           Monday, Feb. 25                         Monday, Feb. 25
First round     Saturday, March 2 *                 Thursday/Friday, Feb. 28/March 1 *
Second round   Saturday, March 9 *                 Saturday, March 2 *
Sweet 16           Saturday, March 16 *                 Friday, March 8 *
Elite 8           Friday, March 22, Salem         Saturday, March 9 *
Semifinals           Saturday, March 23, Salem         Friday, March 15, Salem
Final                   Sunday, April 7, Atlanta         Saturday, March 16, Salem
Time spanned   41 days                                 19 days

Don't like the possible new format.  Possibly more travel, more days off from work needed, more expense for housing and food, housing hard to find in Atlanta and more expensive if D1 teams also playing on the same weekend.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

This isn't possible... it is pretty much how it will be done. The President's Council just has to rubber stamp this in their meetings coming up this week.

While this isn't perfect, a couple of things to keep in mind:
- There may be more travel, but since it will be limited more to weekends, it could be less stressful to the athletes.
- If you are talking about housing and food from the team's perspective, keep in mind that the NCAA pays those expenses. If you are talking from your own point of view... I can't help you, sorry.
- The NCAA has indicated they plan to work at making sure D3 fans (along with D2 fans) have places to stay and tickets to the games, including ideas for free ticket give-a-ways. While it may appear like things will be more expensive, my conversations with those at the NCAA indicate they will be doing their best to make it an enjoyable experience for D2 and D3.
- Remember, this is a one year experience... there are no plans for this to be a permanent option for D3.

To catch up on other details, check out the following links to special Hoopsville On Demand podcasts with NCAA Division III Vice President Dan Dutcher and new Division III men's basketball national committee chair Mike DeWitt (Ohio Wesleyan coach):
Dan Dutcher: www.d3hoops.com/notables/2012/05/dutcher-interview-2013-title-game
Mike DeWitt: www.d3hoops.com/notables/2012/07/2013-tournament-spread-out

[onetinsoldier]

seems kind of long and drawn out, my guess is it was a way to get money out of a championship game unopposed on final four sunday.  I'd imagine CBS Sports Network worked out a deal with NCAA to have D2 and d3 title games that sunday

[onetinsoldier]

good article on the F&M standout

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/711869_F-M-s-Milligan-signs-with-team-in-Germany.html